Cinq minarets à New-York

At first i have to admit that i was prejudiced against Mahsun Kirmizigul before watching his movies like most people around me. "He is a singer , right? How come he could direct a movie and write its script at the same time? No way!" said several times. But after watching his movies, i am impressed with his talent. This film was criticized unjustly and it was wrong! Yes, there is some script holes so what? They are not disturbingly apparent... The action scenes were good,in emotional scenes i watched it with tears in my eyes and actor performances were quite good, especially Haluk Bilginer, Suna Selen (mother of Haluk Bilginer in the movie) and Gina Gershon . I really enjoyed watching it very much. What else do you expect by going to a movie anyway? I give 7 over 10 and i was worth it for sure...

Lastly, i really want to see this movie on the theaters outside Turkey. Because the issues in the movie is universal and they were handled quite well: prejudice against Islam, terrorism and the violence that changes lives.

NEW TORK'TA BES MINARE starts off in familiar fashion, as two Turkish cops travel to New York in pursuit of an alleged terrorist from Turkey who has been living in New York for thirty-seven years. There they encounter a group of FBI agents with innate prejudices against foreigners, and Muslims in particular. The two cops are drawn into a complex world, presided over by Islamic convert Danny Glover, where they seem apparently powerful to act. As the film unfolds, however, so the story becomes more complex. Hadji (Haluk Bilginer), ostensibly the prime suspect in the case - whose capture the Turkish cops are entrusted with - turns out to be completely different from what we, as the audience, expect of him. Director Mahsun Kirmizigul's film turns out to be a meditation on extremism, irrespective of religious difference: some Americans, as well as Turks, seem incapable of adopting either a moderate or a tolerant point of view. The film has a surprise ending, where we discover the true reason why Hadji went to America, and what kind of a person he actually was. Both noble yet self-aware, he remains a figure to admire in a complex world. NEW YORK'TA BES MINARE is an unexpectedly complex work, tautly filmed and grippingly told.

Despite a few clichés, the movie is not, first of all, a predictable one. It starts like any other Hollywood picture, with secret agents and the most fresh subject: Muslim and terrorism. But further more we find that it is about religion, about the fact that there is only one God. We find that the fundamentalist's of Islam are not tolerated by the Islam itself. We can see a dialog between a fundamentalist priest and a true one, despite the fact that they are dressed in ... white and black, suppose a lack of inspiration. We find that the destiny is inevitably. We find that there is love and forgiveness in both - in all of religions.

I have to say I strongly disagree with Mz Haneke, This is a solid - almost - Hollywood quality action movie bringing up the Islamofoby issue which was probably orchestrated by certain policy makers to create a terrorist enemy that they could use whenever they need one. Story's good, most of the actors acted well, the scenery and the action scenes were very well shot indeed. The terrorist groups looked terrifying to us Muslims as much as they would to Non-Muslims and I believe what is told in the movie really touches to the reality. I watched it as I watched an episode of "24" and I'd like to congratulate all the people involved in the shooting of this film. And please... the multimillion dollar movie "The Expendables" -although I like every actor in that movie very much - were more a disappointment for me for it's storyline and acting. If that was a blockbuster, "Five Minarets in New York" is no less. And yes, I'm not a movie-critic, just a movie-goer but I do have a taste in films, I rarely admire much. Nice work!

In Istanbul, terrorists abduct executives, blow-up the car of a journalist and plan five great attacks to the city. The violent police officer Firat Baran (Mahsun Kirmizigül) interrogates a terrorist and informs that the responsible for the attacks is the leader code-named Dajjal that lives in New York under the identity of Hadji Gümüs (Haluk Bilginer). In New York, the bigoted FBI Special Agent David Becker (Robert Patrick) is assigned to arrest the well respected religious and family man Hadji, who has a store in Soho, in his apartment in front of his wife Maria (Gina Gershon). The police officers Firat and Acar Dogan (Mustafa Sandal) travel to New York to bring Hadji back to Turkey.

While traveling to the airport under the custody of the two Turkish officers, Hadji is rescued by his friend Marcus (Danny Glover) and members of the Muslin community. Then, Firat and Acar are captured and Hadji proposes them to stay with him for a couple of days, and then he would turn himself in and travel to Istanbul with the police officers. Firat and Acar realize that Hadji is a good man, but they are forced to bring him to Turkey. Once in Turkey, Hadji is interrogated and the officers believe that he is innocent. But why Hadji was so afraid to return to Turkey?

"Five Minarets in New York" is a magnificent story of intolerance, bigotry, ignorance and feud. The screenplay is very well written without flaws and there are sharp dialogues, like for example, the conversation between Becker and Acar when they are introduced to each other at Becker's office. Further, the film uses few clichés and the plot is absolutely unpredictable.

The cast has good performances and the haunting music score is awesome. I decided to see this film with low expectations since the Brazilian title "Terrorismo em Nova Iorque" (meaning "Terrorism in New York") misleads the viewer. The grabber of this movie for me was Gina Gershon, an actress that I like a lot and I have not seen for a long time. She is almost fifty years old and is still a very beautiful woman. In the end I had a great surprise and I have watched a great film. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Terrorismo em Nova Iorque" ("Terrorism in New York")

Note: On 25 June 2016, I saw this wonderful film again.